A former policeman from Cebu shot dead his wife and kids, and then committed suicide afterwards.
The grisly incident happened at around 5:30 AM, on the morning of July 23. The suspect was identified as Joel Lopez, a former policeman.
According to Frank Belamide, the suspect’s grandfather, he and his wife were preparing breakfast when they suddenly heard gunshots coming from their grandson’s home. This alarmed him, so he rushed to his grandson’s house to see what happened.
He kept knocking on the door, but no one was answering, so he decided to remove a jalousie from one of the windows so that he could get inside their home.
What he saw next was absolutely terrifying
When he got inside the home, he found all 4 members of the family bathed in their own blood. The victims were identified as Joel’s wife, Jelyn Lopez, their daughter Angel May, and son Myir.
The 4 of them were taken to the Carcar City District Hospital, where sadly they were all declared dead on arrival.
According to the police, what might have happened was that the suspect shot his children first, before shooting his wife, and then killing himself. The weapon used for the murders was an M16 rifle which was found on top of Joel’s body.
Why did he kill his family?
According to Joel’s family, he was a good man. He didn’t have any vices, and he was a normal family man.
However, Jelyn’s mother, Clemen, shares, “We noticed that he and his wife were going through something. But when we asked if they had a problem, they would tell us nothing.”
They believe that the suspect became depressed due to their financial situation.
Joel’s grandfather adds, “Maybe he could no longer bear their situation. But he didn’t share anything to us. He and his wife kept things to themselves.”
The house that the family lived in was a 10 by 14 foot house that was formerly a water station. Joel’s grandfather said that they gave him the house after closing down the water station.
Joel was also desperate to be reinstated as a policeman. However, he was dismissed in 2013 when a person he arrested filed charges against him.
His wife also had troubles, as she had a pending case against her for unaccounted cash amounting to 30,000 pesos. She was working as a vault custodian of Royal Gold Pawnshop.
Source: cebudailynews.inquirer.net
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